ALBANY — The MOVE Music Festival returns to Albany on Saturday, April 29. Beginning at noon, the festival will journey through the city as a celebration of local artists and music.
“We’re excited to be back,” said Ed Peters, who is the new owner of the MOVE Festival.
Regarding the festival’s three-year break during the COVID-19 pandemic, Peters said, “We feel like everybody has really been excited to have live music back.”
The festival will feature 12 continuous hours of music, with one show at the beginning, one show at the end and numerous solo performers in between.
From noon to 3 p.m. at The Fuze Box, the bands Black Belt Jones, Ike’s Wasted World, The Frozen Heads, and Trebled Youth will start off the festival.
From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the event will travel down Madison Avenue and Lark Street on a musical journey that involves the whole community and businesses along the way.
“With this festival, we have a wide range of artists,” said Lo Baboulis, assistant to Peters. “We have a thrash metal band playing at the Fuze Box, but we also have an acoustic singer-songwriter at Ben & Jerry’s, a pop artist at Savoy, and hip-hop at Pint-Sized.”
During the Move Down Madison and Lark, Kyla Silk will be performing at Capital Wine, Bebhinn McDermott at Ben & Jerry’s, Niki Kaos at Alacrity, Tim Candlen at the Lark Street Tavern, Ryan Leddick at the Local 217 Tap Room and Kitchen, and JB aka Dirty Moses at Pint-Sized.
“There is something for everyone,” said Baboulis. “We were focused on that because we want to bring people together.”
Local businesses are showing their support for the event by finding creative ways to celebrate the talent that will be performing. Madeline Hogan will perform at Fresh ‘n Pressed from 3-3:45 p.m., and there will be an exclusive drink to honor her performance.
The event features a carefully curated lineup, including Eddie Award-nominated Sydney Worthley, who will perform at the Savoy Taproom from 5:30-6:15 p.m.
After the Move Down Madison and Lark, the showcase performance runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. at Lark Hall. Listen Up Award-winners Seize Atlantis will be at the Lark Hall, along with Embe Esti and The Sugar Hold.
“It’s 12 hours of music,” said Baboulis. “That was our goal.”
The MOVE Music Festival is made possible by sponsors including Radio Radio X, Albany Distilling Co., Everyday Art, Imprint Universe, Lark Street Business Improvement District (BID), and Gabriella Romero.
“It’s a group effort with a lot of people coming together,” said Peters. “This is about the community pooling our resources together.”
Peters said he is excited to bring the MOVE Music Festival back to the Albany music community. It keeps true to the original mission statement’s purpose of highlighting local talent.
Bernie Walters, the festival’s founder, organized seven MOVE Music Festivals. This year’s is the first one organized by Peters, who said he is excited for “another eight festivals” and even more beyond that, maintaining the festival as a long-time aspect of Albany’s music scene.
“This is the beginning of a whole new adventure,” said Peters. “It’s a new chapter.”
